Three stars miss out as Real Madrid announce squad for the Intercontinental Cup final

Real Madrid announced their 24-member squad for the Intercontinental Cup final that is set to be played on Wednesday (December 18). Los Blancos will face the Mexican side C.F. Pachuca in the summit clash that will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. However, the Spanish giants will miss three of their superstars in this encounter.

Dani Carvajal, David Alaba, and Eder Militao have not been included in the squad for the final as they are injured. Carvajal suffered an ACL injury a couple of months ago and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. The same is true with Militao, who sustained a similar injury in November and was told to be on the sidelines for the rest of the season.

Alaba suffered an ACL injury a year ago and has recovered as well. But he has only recently returned to training and is yet to feature in any competitive match. Having said that, the star trio will travel to Qatar with the squad. Interestingly, star player Kylian Mbappe who had also suffered an injury of late, is part of the squad after returning to training with the first team. Ferland Mendy is another notable absentee from the squad that will lock horns against Pachuca after his recent fate with the injury. 

What has happened to Kylian Mbappe?

For the unversed, Kylian Mbappe suffered from a thigh injury during Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium in the UEFA Champions League a week ago on December 10. Even though he opened the account for Los Blancos, the French superstar had to come off in the 26th minute itself due to injury. 

However, manager Carlo Ancelotti provided an update later expressing confidence that Mbappe will be fit for the Intercontinental Cup final against Pachuca. “Mbappe isn't anything very serious. He won't be there for the match [against Vallecano], [but] he'll travel to Qatar and see if he can play part of the [Intercontinental Cup] without risk,” Ancelotti said (via Goal).

Real Madrid squad: 

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Fran González.

Defenders: Lucas Vázquez, Vallejo, Fran García, Rüdiger, Youssef, Asencio and Lorenzo.

Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Modrić, Tchouameni, Arda Güler and Ceballos.

Forwards: Vini Jr., Mbappé, Rodrygo, Endrick, Brahim, Gonzalo and Víctor Muñoz.